Just left a viewing of the new Superman situation with Tito and John Stasny and a very zealous theater laugher. Here’s a few of my personal reactions:

1. I could watch Amy Adams fold laundry for two hours and thirty-three minutes.

2. Michael Shannon is the best thing this film has going. My fear is that Hollywood will wise-up to Shannon and he’ll get overplayed too soon. He’s capable of anything. But so was John Goodman, and no one ever complains about too much John Goodman.

3. There’s enough Christ imagery in Man of Steel to make Mel Gibson sweat for a Passion sequel.

4. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane have both aged very well. I’d be content to look like either of them in 20 years.

5. I love that Superman’s goal is to protect humanity, but, in doing so, he wipes Manhattan/Metropolis off the map, throwing the bad guy through the only buildings that still stand. Reminded me of the opening sequence to Team America: World Police when the puppets run the terrorists out of Paris by destroying Paris. It was a better joke when the puppets did it.

7. Maybe it’s the educator in me that so despises the “you can be anything you want to be” bullsnot. All the talk of Superman choosing his own path, while still needing to choose a particular path, just made me roll my eyes. It’s sweet. And it sounds very positive and empowering. But it’s like telling the popcorn kernels in the concession stand that, if they just believe, they could be hot dogs or pickles or Sour Patch Kids, and then tossing them in the popper anyway. So let’s just stick to Superman being a swell, bulletproof guy and skip all the graduation speeches.

8. Zack Snyder – whose Sucker-Punch is a great 90 minute music video but an awful feature length film – enjoys visual-oomph. He seems to care very little for characters and story. With that said, Man of Steel is not bad. It would benefit from a little humor. The script sorely needed a fresh set of eyes. The narrative needed to slow down at times, speed up at times, and choose development over destruction. But if you realize in advance that Snyder makes his films according to the principles of the Smallville clergy, “Sometimes you gotta take a leap of faith. Then trust [your audience] later”, then you’ll know to set your expectations low enough to feel you’ve gotten your money’s worth.

9. Man of Steel gets 2.5 smashed IHOPs out of 5. Nothing chides the heart of America like a crushed breakfast nook.